Lana and I can hardly believe we are about to celebrate our 5th year in this business partnership. I doubt either of us could have imagined what this partnership has blossomed into. Have you ever been curious as to how this partnership got its start?? We are asked this question at least once at every event. So I thought I would take a moment and share that with you all.
Lana & I met back in 1992.
She & her hubby, Tim had sold us the land which became the place where our first home was built. Living side by side, Lana & I, along with our families quickly became the closest of friends. We were both new moms and were real lifesavers to one another during those insecure, early years of motherhood.Our young boys were practically inseparable; such great memories of those times. I’m not sure the rest of the neighborhood was as fond of our mischievous fella’s as we were, lol. I distinctly recall Tyler & Douglas’s first motor vehicle collision which involved a battery powered “Bigfoot” truck (Douglas driving, and Tyler riding shotgun in the bed while being Dougie’s GPS device). Well, Tyler navigated Douglas and the
molded plastic truck directly into our neighbors parked full-size Ford Bronco that sat innocently in the the driveway. The damage to the Bronco was quite severe; I'm pretty sure there was some touch up paint involved in the repair. I love that memory, although I seem to recall some stern punishment for the boys which was after Lana and I picked ourselves up off the floor from secretly laughing hysterically in the other room.Well, after nearly five years with the best neighbors anyone could ask for, David and I decided to sell our place in Waynesboro and purchase my father’s place out in Lyndhurst/Sherando.
At the time of our move, Lana had already shot a few weddings on her own, a couple of which I had assisted. We both dabbled independently in photographing for different friends and events for several years after our move.
Then one day, out of the blue in early January 2004, Lana gives me a call as she is traveling home from Richmond, following a visit with her mother.
She quickly subsided with the small talk and informed me that she really had something on her heart, something she felt that God was encouraging her to do. She went on to say that she felt that we should combine our talents in photography and create a business partnership. My first response was, “Are you nuts?!”. However, the more I listened to her share the vision for what God had shown her; I began to see 
it as a real possibility. We both decided to intensely pray about it, knowing full well that if this was a vision from God that we would both feel at peace with it and knew that God would bless that which he had commissioned. Our first session as C & L Photography took place in March 2004.Ergo…here we sat 5 years later enjoying the immense blessing of this partnership. We, without a doubt completely know that this is what God had in mind for this business. We view C & L Photography as a ministry, not merely, just a business. Something very dear to us, and something the Lord laid on our hearts before our very first wedding in March 2004 was that we were to jointly cover each couple, pastor, family and our ability to document the event in prayer before each ceremony. I cannot even begin to describe to you what a blessing this one particular act has meant to us. We both also believe that this act of prayer was also the catalyst for our decision to become a part of, “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep”. (If you have a moment, I’d like to encourage you to check out this organization. www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org)
We give God the glory for this partnership each and every day, and we realize that without Him, none of this would be possible. We have had the privilege of photographing numerous families, seniors, newborns, etc... And we have been blessed by each and every one of them. We have also had the honor of documenting close to one hundred wedding ceremonies and look forward to hundreds, if not thousands more.
Lana and I also would like to take a moment to remember a few, dear folks that we had the opportunity to photograph and also became very dear to us in these last 5 years. Sadly, each of their lives were cut short, and for reasons only our Lord knows, however…because our lives were touched because of meeting each of them, we want to honor them.
Brian Bistel, age 39 (passed Oct. 2006). Brian and his lovely wife, Theresa was the first wedding ceremony that C & L photographed.
Trisha Coyner, age 17 (passed Oct. 2006). Lana and I had taken Trisha’s senior portraits just months before she passed. Trisha and her family are also very dear family friends.
William Colmery, age 57 (passed Oct. 2007). Dear father of Anne Colmery; one of our brides).
Well, here we are five years later, completely transitioned from 35mm to digital; from the days of mailing in rolls of film to the lab, to the convenience of uploading the files; from Photoshop CS1, to Photoshop CS3 (now with CS4 waiting in the wings). However, with all the these phenomenal changes, a few things has remained the same…a great friendship, a mutual respect, the occasional humbling by the man UPSTAIRS, and a continued reminder that this opportunity to be in your lives is one of the 
greatest honor and blessing of ours.
So, to offer our appreciation for your business and support over the past 5 years please enjoy a 15% discount off all orders placed during the entire month of March. Furthermore, we will also be entering the names of all of our clients that we have photographed, or will be photographing from January 2008 
through August 2009, to win 16x20 Stretch Canvas Print of their choosing. Mark your calendars; we will be drawing that name on September 6, 2009.
Again, we want to say a big thanks to each or you and we look forward to many more years of documenting every step of your journey!
